There will be fewer seats than originally planned when Everton FC kicks off the Premier League season at its new £750m stadium in August. Tony McDonough reports

Everton FC has confirmed it has reduced the capacity of its new £750m stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock ahead of the Premier League kick off in August.
When the team lines up to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, August 23, the capacity of the Hill Dickinson Stadium will be 52,769 – 119 fewer than the 52,888 figure the club has quoted since the beginning of the project.
On Tuesday Everton told the Liverpool Echo the 0.2% reduction in seats had been decided following a “thorough post-construction audit and review of the seating configuration”.
It added that factors such as segregation lines between the home and away supporters and provision for media facilities and camera positions were factors in the decision. No seats already purchased as season tickets will be affected.
Before the Premier League kick-off every will host Serie A side AS Roma on Sunday, August 9, in a pre-season friendly. A capacity crowd is expected for what will be the stadium’s third and final test event.
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This week the club also revealed that the Everton Way paved walkway outside the stadium, featuring 36,000 personalised granite stones from Evertonians across the world, is now close to being completed on schedule.
Plans are under way to map the locations of each stone to inform supporters where they can find their individual messages.

Kevin O’Brien, director of Intaglio Creative, which is managing the installations, said: “We are pretty much finished as far as laying is concerned.
“As everyone knows, 36,000 stones were sold and there’s about 34,500 in the ground right now. Those last 1,500 will be in before the end of next week, then we’ve got the timeline to finish and we’ll be into the cleaning, sealing, and grouting.”
The timeline, featuring key moments in the club’s long and illustrious history, runs along the top of the entire length of Everton Way, providing a fitting addition to the scheme.